REPUBLIC OF TÜRKİYE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE

Speaking at the opening ceremony of Yozgat Personnel Training Center, Minister of Justice Bekir Bozdağ said: “This training center is in Yozgat, but it is a work of all Türkiye. The children of our citizens from all over Türkiye and the very valuable personnel of the Ministry of Justice will come here to receive their training and continue to work.”

Stating that the training center will fulfill an important task in training personnel, Bozdağ thanked those who contributed to the establishment of the center. Reminding that the Justice Academy of Türkiye and training centers were established for the training of members of the judiciary, Minister Bozdağ said: “In the course of time, we have seen that we need to take new steps in training judges and prosecutors, we need to take new steps in training. Therefore, we abolish the system of candidacy for judges and prosecutors and replace it with the system of assistant judges and prosecutors. Each of our children who pass the exam for judges and prosecutors will be appointed as assistant judge and prosecutor. First, they will receive three months of basic training in the Justice Academy, then they will go to the field, to the courthouses, following the determination of those who are assigned to the category of judges and prosecutors.”

Explaining that a maximum of two assistant judges and prosecutors will be appointed to each training judge, Bozdağ said: “Assistant judges and prosecutors will not be an all talk system, they will have a status in the law. Their duties will be set forth one by one in the law. Our judges and prosecutors will train their assistants in a master/apprentice relationship. When the legal and criminal training is completed, they will be called to the Academy again. They will be called to the final training when the training at the Court of Appeal and the Court of Cassation is completed.”

THIS AUDIT IS NOT A PUNISHMENT, NITPICKING OR FAULT-FINDING AUDIT

Minister Bozdağ emphasized that judges and prosecutors will take the bench qualified following their training.

Underscoring that the rate of accuracy in the investigations, trials and decisions will increase after the approval of assistant judges and prosecutors by the Council of Judges and Prosecutors, Minister Bozdağ noted that the rate of meeting the expectations of the citizens from justice will also increase.

Stating that a new step will be taken towards the inspection of courthouses, judges and prosecutors, Minister Bozdağ stated that these inspections are carried out every two years, yet in practice, it is seen that there are courthouses that have not been inspected for a long time.

Minister Bozdağ noted:

“As part of the work carried out in the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) with the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) as the People’s Alliance, we introduce a regulation that obliges the inspection of courthouses, and that every court, prosecutor or judge be inspected at least once every two years. The Council of Judges and Prosecutors will announce which courthouses are to be inspected that year until the second week of January each year, and these inspections will be carried out on site. At the present time, audits are carried out through the National Judiciary Informatics System (UYAP), which is not efficient. Our judges and prosecutors will be supervised by our well-trained inspectors on the spot and on site, and they will be fairly guided. This audit is not a punishment, nitpicking or fault-finding audit. It will be a guiding step and audit to ensure that those who hold office carry out their duties effectively, efficiently and in accordance with the Constitution and our laws. Our aim is to be able to do what is more right and to reduce mistakes.”

Noting that participating in vocational training programs for at least three times will be added to the requirements for judges and prosecutors to be allocated as first category, Bozdağ stated that voluntary vocational training will again be voluntary with the new regulation.

WE ARE DETERMINED TO SEND ALL RENTAL DISPUTES TO THE MEDIATOR

Underscoring that the new regulations will reduce many discussions and are historical steps, Bozdağ said: “Our Assembly will enact these amendments before going into recess.”

Reminding that the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Trade and the Ministry of Treasury and Finance are carrying out a joint work on rents, Bozdağ stated that the formula to be revealed will be presented to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and then steps will be taken in the sequel.

Pointing out that they believe in the necessity of increasing alternative dispute resolution methods, Bozdağ stated that conciliation and mediation are effective in Türkiye.

Minister Bozdağ said: “We are determined to send all rental disputes to the mediator. I would like to express that we continue our work on this point. When the preparations are finalized, these preparations will be evaluated in the Assembly and will be enacted upon the approval by our Assembly.”

ADMINISTRATIVE COURTS WILL BE ESTABLISHED IN AĞRI, BİNGÖL, KARS AND KIRKLARELİ

Stating that the path the judiciary plows through in Türkiye is a tough one, Bozdağ emphasized that that they came to today’s Türkiye from the days when there was no paper, computer and the typewriters hardly worked in the past periods, and said that today’s courthouses evolved from the lower floors of the municipal buildings, the corners of the government offices, the places that resembled coffee houses into their present state.

Noting that the tradition of constructing public buildings with local architecture for the first time in Türkiye began during the period when Cemil Çiçek, Former Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye and Member of the Presidential High Advisory Board, was the Minister of Justice, Bozdağ stated that 276 Justice Palaces have been built so far. Bozdağ stated that while the closed area of ​​the courthouses across the country was 569 thousand square meters in 2002, this figure reached 5 million square meters. Pointing out that they do not pursue any other goal other than the better access of the nation to justice, Bozdağ added that the number of judges and prosecutors has increased to 23 thousand. Minister of Justice Bozdağ also stated that administrative courts will be established in Ağrı, Bingöl, Kars and Kırklareli. Stating that they aim to expand the Forensic Medicine Branches operating in 71 provinces across the country, also in places where there are high criminal courts, Bozdağ said: “When there is a forensic incident, the people of Yozgat and people from all over our country go to Ankara, to the deputies, to get the funeral and wait there, they mourn and suffer, on top of that,  there is a legal process going on there, but now there is no such expectation, thank goodness, we have taken a step that immediately meets the needs of our citizens.”

Describing what has been done with regard to technology, Bozdağ emphasized that “the period of Türkiye asking for money of carbon paper from lawyers evolved into the period of Türkiye giving laptops to every judge and prosecutor”. Stating that the National Judiciary Informatics System (UYAP) has been developed, Bozdağ noted that the UYAP has been integrated with 52 public institutions and organizations in 162 areas and that this is an important step in accelerating the proceedings.

COURTS OF APPEAL PERFORM A VERY CRUCIAL FUNCTION TO ACCELERATE THE PROCEEDINGS
Pointing out that it is tried to create a perception in the public that the courts of appeal prolong the proceedings, Bozdağ expressed: “But all the numbers disprove this. Courts of appeal perform a very crucial function, not prolonging the proceedings, but actually accelerating the proceedings, and we see that a significant part of the decisions rendered by courts of appeal having the right to be appealed are not subject to appeal. This also reveals the satisfaction of our citizens with the decisions.”

Emphasizing that judges and prosecutors work with great devotion, Minister Bozdağ said that judges and prosecutors work with great devotion to determine the right and deliver it to its holder.

Minister of Justice Bekir Bozdağ continued:

“We also see a large campaign of attacks on our judges and prosecutors, our members of the judiciary, who work devotedly, over certain incidents and particular cases. We also see so many unjustified expressions, insults, and imputations which go beyond disrespect and insult, and which are not befitting the speaker. I would like to express here once again that our judges and prosecutors are not and will not be the scapegoat of any politician or any segment, any person, or any group.”

Emphasizing that protecting the rights of judges and prosecutors in the face of such attacks is the common duty of the government and him as the Chairman of the Council of Judges and Prosecutors and Minister of Justice, Bozdağ said that members of the judiciary and Türkiye witnessed that they raised their voices against all kinds of disrespect, insults and threats.

WE TELL THEM TO THEIR FACES IN BILATERAL MEETINGS

Minister of Justice Bozdağ continued his speech as follows:

“We also tell those who come from Europe, that there are around 315,000 citizens in the prisons of Türkiye today. They are obsessed with two persons. If you speak of human rights, rights, law, justice, we have around 315,000 citizens in prisons, have any complaints regarding their rights not been received? Why don’t you take care of them? Nobody has a problem with them. We haven’t heard a single sentence they said about their rights. We tell them to their faces in bilateral meetings. Now we see that no one has the right to make our judges and prosecutors, who sign nearly 20 million judicial proceedings and decisions every year, to face unjust accusations due to the practices related to the subject of no more than a handful of cases. They cannot speak, they speak with their decisions. I wish we could give them the right to answer, I am sure they would teach what is the right and the limit to those who do this injustice. I would like to express that we will try to protect their right on their behalf.”

Reminding that the penalties for price manipulation and stockpiling will be increased, Bozdağ stated that the ban on arrest for these offences will be lifted. Bozdağ noted that with the new law amendment on the agenda, conveyance of title, purchase and sale transactions will be able to be carried out in notary offices as well as in Land Registry Offices.

CEMİL ÇİÇEK’S NAME WILL BE GIVEN TO THE TRAINING CENTER

Stating that Yozgat Training Center has undertaken a great task for Türkiye in the field of training as it provides accommodation for 378 people and training for 504 people at the same time, Minister Bozdağ said: “On the one hand, the pre-vocational and vocational training of the auxiliary staff of the judiciary is provided in the best and most efficient way. It will contribute to them doing more useful and better work in the line of duty. On the other hand, it will perform an important task in keeping up with the development and change in accordance with the conditions of the age with vocational training. As we attach importance to training and increase the quality, we will carry ourselves to a good point in every respect. This training center is in Yozgat, but it is a work of all Türkiye. The children of our citizens from all over Türkiye and the very valuable personnel of the Ministry of Justice will come here to receive their training and continue to work.”

Mentioning that Cemil Çiçek, who attended the ceremony, did great services to Yozgat and Türkiye, Bozdağ stated that Yozgat Personnel Training Center will be named after Cemil Çiçek.

ÇİÇEK: JURISDICTION IS AT THE FOREFRONT OF INSTITUTIONS THAT HAVE UNDERGONE CHANGE AND TRANSFORMATION

Cemil Çiçek, Former Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye and Member of the Presidential High Advisory Board, said the training center is an important service. Çiçek stated that judicial services are at the forefront of the institutions that have undergone change and transformation at most in the last 20 years in Türkiye.

Describing what has been done in the judicial services, Çiçek emphasized that being a member of the judiciary in Türkiye is a sacrifice. Stating that the physical facilities in the judiciary and the rights to freedom could not be compared with the past, Çiçek said: “We did these things, so to speak, during a period of power under probation. Maybe people voted on Sunday, but God knows what we faced in Ankara on Monday.”

Following the speeches, Minister Bozdağ and Cemil Çiçek inaugurated the training center. The ceremony was attended by Yozgat Governor Ziya Polat, Acting President and Head of the Second Chamber of the Council of Judges and Prosecutors Mehmet Akif Ekinci, Head of the First Chamber of the Council of Judges and Prosecutors Halil Koç, members of the Council of Judges and Prosecutors, members of the Constitutional Court, the Court of Cassation and the Council of State, Yozgat Chief Public Prosecutor Hasan Uçak and members of the judiciary.

Vice President Fuat Oktay stated in the message he sent to the ceremony that the training center will ensure that competent human resources are trained to perform justice services.